Petrov: Grosjean made huge mistake

Vitaly Petrov, the new Renault second driver alongside Robert Kubica, believes that Romain Grosjean should have bided his time, instead of jumping into Formula 1 halfway through the season.

Grosjean joined Renault after Hungary last year, when Nelson Piquet Jr was dropped after failing to score a point after 10 races. However, he struggled as much as Piquet, and failed to score a point either for the rest of the season.

Petrov spoke to Auto Hebdo, saying:

“Grosjean made a huge mistake by entering F1 mid-season.”

“There was much more to lose than to win, especially with a car that even Alonso failed to find any good in. One of the F1 teams asked me to step in mid-2009 but I refused and my father supported me; we must start when a season begins, not step in en route.”

When Petrov says he was offered a drive halfway through last year, he must mean either Renault or Toro Rosso (or Ferrari, but that’s highly unlikely). I must say I’m impressed by Vitaly’s maturity to wait until next year, when he might not have been able to get a drive.